Lord Leverhulme’s Thornton Manor opens its doors for the first time

Aug 5 2009 by Lorna Hughes, Birkenhead News

Thornton Manor, which was home to Lord Leverhulme 460

PEOPLE are to be given their first look inside the historic house designed by the man who founded Port Sunlight.

Grade II-listed Thornton Manor, home to three generations of the Leverhulme dynasty, is opening its doors next month for a fund-raising day for Age Concern.

Only people lucky enough to have been invited to private functions at the manor have seen inside the house in recent years.

Now guided tours of the property, which dates from the 1840s – will include the first Viscount Leverhulme’s famous outdoor bedroom with his bath – barely sheltered from the elements – in one corner.

The Victorian soap magnate believed it was healthy to sleep exposed to wind, rain and snow.

There will also be an opportunity to see the ornate music room, with its glass ceiling and centrepiece of a projecting marble organ.

The house is being opened on Sunday September 6 to raise money for a new wing at Age Concern Wirral’s Devonshire Resource Centre in Birkenhead, which will cater for younger dementia sufferers.

Philip Cowan, of owners Thornton Holdings Ltd, said: “Lever rented the house at Thornton Manor in 1888, when he started building the village and factory at Port Sunlight.